Ideas, essays, and field notes.
Long-form thinking on applied AI, product, and the shape of the work — from the people who build ataraxy.
the founder myth is great man theory with worse evidence
thomas carlyle wrote in 1840 that the history of the world is nothing more than the biography of great men. almost two centuries later the phrase no longer surv
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the pin factory runs backwards
in 1776 adam smith opened the wealth of nations with a pin. one untrained worker, he wrote, could make perhaps one pin a day. divided into eighteen distinct ope
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the model is not for you
on june 12 the united states shut down anthropic's two most powerful models for every foreigner. the excuse was security. the real message is another one, and i
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aligning without discussing is imposing
the technical problem of how to align an artificial intelligence with human values is not a technical problem. it is a problem of jurisdiction disguised as an e
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aggregate employment holds up, first jobs don't
in april 2026, openai published a paper authored by economist alex martin richmond, with a foreword by the company's chief economist, ronnie chatterji. the docu
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the developer discovers they were a worker
labor day finds the software developer discovering that, in the end, they were a worker all along.
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the second wave already started and uruguay barely saw the first
between january and march 2026, the global tech sector eliminated more than 73,000 jobs according to layoffs.fyi. just the first quarter. 40% more than the same
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the state trains, the multinational harvests and leaves
uruguay invests between us$ 50,000 and us$ 70,000 of public funds for every computer engineer who graduates from udelar, but the multinationals that hire that t
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the model we built with forgone taxes and what comes next
to understand what is happening in the uruguayan tech sector you have to start where people rarely start: with the money the state decided not to collect.
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the end of the model
in the last twelve months, more than 1,500 people lost their jobs in uruguay's tech sector. pedidosya, ukg, basf, sabre, verizon/alorica. different names, same
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The Ritualization of Agile: When Ceremonies Lose Their Meaning
Agile has been turned into a religion of empty ceremonies and cargo-cult metrics. A call to strip away rituals that no longer serve us and return to the true sp
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Leveraging Technology for Operational Excellence: A Project Insight
A behind-the-scenes look at how ataraxy built custom software integrated with thermal printing technology to streamline a client's production processes, improvi
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Staff Augmentation vs. Product Development: Complementary Models for Success in Software Development
Staff augmentation and product development are distinct but complementary models. The real risk arises when companies aren't clear about which they sell, leavin
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The Product Operating Model: The Hegelian Hero Articulating The Product Organization
Why the product operating model succeeds only when empowered teams report to leaders who truly understand product management, and how product operations acts as
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How Algorithm-Driven Content Creation Distracts Leaders
The relentless demand for social-media content pulls leaders away from their true mission. A call to reclaim our roles as builders and prioritize innovation and
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Beyond Buzzwords: Reimagining Digital Innovation Through Simplicity And Purpose
Lessons from Amazon Prime Video's return to a monolith, the limits of cargo-cult Agile, and the case for prioritizing outcomes over processes, principles over p
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Considering Serverless Computing? 20 Expert Tips (And Warnings)
Twenty members of the Forbes Technology Council share advice and warnings for organizations weighing a serverless computing model, covering cost, performance, v
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The Mirage Of Productivity In Process-Oriented Cultures
How process theater and the feature-team model create the illusion of progress, and why product leadership should measure success by tangible user value and out
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